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MAP snapshot Leisure and sports
Community leisure and sports facilities Much of the data in this section comes from the http://www.kent.gov.uk/RapidKCC/WebPage ; a trawl of local Web Sites; and local observations by Parent Teacher Association of West Malling Church of England Primary School. Number of public houses |} Number of hotels There is only one small Hotel the Stables in West Malling. However, Hotels in the MAP area include the Travel Inn and Hilton Hotel at Wrotham Heath; which is not far from Trottiscliffe; Swallowfields – Larkfield; and the Premier Travel Inn at Leybourne Number of hotel bed spaces Estimated at 150 from the 3 main hotels (equivalent to an average of 50 rooms each) Number of bed and breakfast bed spaces There are three quite small private Bed & Breakfast facilities in West Malling; the number of bed spaces is estimated at less than 10 Number and type of restaurants and cafes, including take-aways West Malling has the reputation of being the Restaurant Capital of Kent. The following table is a straw poll list from the parents at the Church of England Primary School Norman Road of the Restaurants and Cafes West Malling. Pubs serving “Pub Grub” are listed in Pubs Section. |} Other West Malling Eateries and Takeaways not mentioned by parents include Bean Rush; Oscars. In the surrounding MAP area there are quite a profusion of Pub Brasserie / Restaurant style eateries. Offham has the Kings Head; Addington has The Angel Inn; in Trottiscliffe there are the Plough, and the George. Presence of a cinema There is no Cinema in West Malling MAP Area. The Website shows 3 closest cinema groups are:- the Odeon at Maidstone; UGC in Rochester; and The Playhouse (formerly STAG) Kino in Sevenoaks. There is also, even further a field, The Showcase Cinema in Bluewater Shopping Complex, Dartford. . Presence of a theatre In the neighbouring areas are the “Oast Theatre” at Tonbridge; “The Hazlitt Theatre” at Maidstone; and the “Brook Theatre” central to Chatham. The former STAG theatre in Sevenoaks has been revitalised as the Sevenoaks Playhouse. Public halls/community centres The following is a straw poll list from the parents at the Church of England Primary School Norman Road of the Public halls/community centres in West Malling *West Malling Village Hall *The Millyard Meeting Room *Cricket Pavilion *The Clout Institute *The Church Centre *Age Concern *West Malling CEP School Almost without exception the other Parishes in the Hinterland have Village Halls and multiple other meeting facilities centered on school, religious and interest group etc., Presence of museum(s) The http://www.kent.gov.uk/RapidKCC/WebPage shows there are 5 major museums within 10 miles of West Malling. However The Malling Society (with the active support of the Parish Council, is seeking a permanent Museum in the historic Twitch Inn in the cellar of Douces Manor. In the interim, temporary displays particularly of the “Freda Barton Photographic Collection” are held in the Clout Memorial Institute. Presence of a library Both West Malling and Larkfield have their own Public Library. The Kent School Library Service Team that offers a wide range of services including borrowing books videos for schools operates from Kings Hill. A KCC mobile library operates in Kings Hill. The Kent County library is relatively close by in Springfield Maidstone with a specialist business section. Presence of art gallery(ies) West Malling has an Art Group that exhibits from time to time in the West Malling Church of England School. Other art groups and individuals also exhibit in the West Malling Library. The “Gallery” in the Millyard in West Malling, provides a range of art services including sale of prints and limited editions, plus art supplies and picture framing. The Liberty Gallery for Contemporary Fine Art & Craft opened recently in Kings Hill. The Natasha Smith Art Gallery is also located in West Malling Other Community Number of churches according to different denominations The established Churches in West Malling are *St Mary’s Church of England in High Street *St Thomas More RC Church Luck’s Hill *Baptist Church in Swan Street Several other MAP parishes have places of worship, in the main Church of England. Number of voluntary organisations and societies in the town and its surrounding countryside The list of voluntary organizations in West Malling (again provided by parents at the Church of England Primary School Norman Road) include *The Malling Society *Malling Short Bowls Club *West Malling Active Retirement Association - MARA *Ministry of Performing Arts *Children’s Dance Group *Georgina Green School of Dancing. *Tai Chi *Karate *Malling Photographic Society *West Malling WI *Circuit Training *Yoga *Watercolour painting class *Malling Lionesses *Rotary Club *Town Malling Day Group *MAP But the above is still not an exhaustive list. Other branches of the Kent wide “ARA’s” - Active Retirement Associations also exist in Larkfield and Kings Hill. Branches of the UK National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Society – NADFAS groups operate from Ryarsh (West Malling) & Hadlow. It is understood that most parishes also have quite active voluntary organizations. For example Offham has a smaller population than West Malling. However, its Parish Plan survey boasts wide support for Offham May Day; Open House & The Offham Society groups. Sporting organization include Offham Tennis Club; Offham Cricket Club; and Badminton & Yoga groups. A wide range of activities are based around the Kings Arm Pub including :- Kings Arms golf society ; eating out; socialising; quiz night; darts. Cosgrave Field and The Recreation ground are other functions that operate in Offham. However support for Beavers/Cubs/Scouts is on a much smaller scale. So the MAP area appears to be well served in this respect of Voluntary Organisations.